House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 420: Ding Xiang Sees Clearly as an Observer

“Fairy Tale” has truly become a hit!

After being released for half a week, even the mainstream media could no longer ignore its influence and began reporting on this video that promoted itself as “the first mini-movie.” Thanks to the boost from mainstream media coverage, “Fairy Tale” broke through ten million views within five days of its release.

In that era, such a figure carried significant weight.

Of course, “Fairy Tale” wasn’t money—it couldn’t possibly please everyone. Along with the praise, there were also criticisms and denials. In the mainstream media reports, there were no shortage of doubts, attacks, and outright dismissals.

“The visuals are rough, the actors’ performances are average, and the plot creates life-and-death separation just to wring tears from the audience. Why exactly did Fairy Tale become so popular? Was it just because of a song by Mu Li’ang?”

“Whether in terms of ideology or artistry, ‘Fairy Tale’ lacks noteworthy qualities of excellent works.”

The magazine “Monthly Film Review” was even more straightforward, stating that “Fairy Tale” wasn’t a movie at all but rather a music video masquerading as a movie.

Moreover, Lu Chun, a former art film director, now a full-time film critic and producer, criticized the competition held by Weibo in his column: “A ten-minute mini-movie can’t possibly capture the depth that a movie should have. At best, it’s a short skit. Please don’t slap the label of ‘movie’ on it!”

However, amidst the skepticism from mainstream media, “Fairy Tale” became even more popular as it was criticized. Many people registered accounts on Weibo just to watch this video. Even if they didn’t praise it highly, they still earnestly defended it.

For the first time, mainstream media and online public opinion stood in opposition. Surprisingly, the mainstream media—originally considered the “regular army”—could not shake the “irregular forces.” Instead, the voice of online public opinion grew louder and louder, and “Fairy Tale’s” reputation gradually became established through word of mouth.

The mini-movie competition hosted by Weibo also caught the eyes of many young people interested in filmmaking. Putting aside those who were just dabbling, students from schools with directing and acting departments such as Beijing Film Academy, Jiangcheng Media University, and Shanghai Drama Academy, began to stir with excitement. Many young directors and actors, brimming with talent but lacking opportunities, felt eager to try.

The top prize was one million yuan!

And it was only for making a mini-movie — the requirement wasn’t that high!

As a result, many people called upon their friends to gather and work on scripts together. If they wanted to win, they had to do it properly!

Of course, although mainstream media criticized it, they didn’t represent the opinions of the entire entertainment industry. In entertainment companies, talent agencies, and even record labels, there were plenty of far-sighted people. They set aside their prejudice and recognized the excellence of “Fairy Tale.”

While Qin Wen, who had already signed with an agency, enjoyed relative peace, Guo Ziyi, the male lead, and director Du Yuanlei found themselves relentlessly pursued by scouts and agents seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Upon learning neither had signed with any agency yet, these people pursued them relentlessly like wild dogs.

“It’s terrifying! They even found my dorm room! That’s why I had to come to the coffee shop to hide for a bit!”

That Saturday, Guo Ziyi stayed in the coffee shop chatting with Ding Xiang and Yang Huan. Of course, he was also forced by Ding Xiang to help serve coffee to customers. It happened that Lin Mu’an had gone to a competition that day, leaving the shop short-handed. Normally, even though Lin Mu’an was the pianist, he also took on the duties of a waiter.

“Why don’t you agree to sign? It’s such a great opportunity!” Yang Huan said with a smile.

“I’m not going to sign randomly with a talent agency and get scammed!” Guo Ziyi was still somewhat clever. He smiled and said, “Didn’t Brother Yang tell us last time about Qianli Chuanshu’s experience? Let me tell you, that Ronghuada Agency approached me too. You wouldn’t believe how disgusting they were…”

Ding Xiang said with concern, “It’s a good thing you didn’t sign back then!”

“Heh, the reason I didn’t agree at the time was that they wanted to sign me as a singer, but I don’t like being a singer at all! I just love acting in movies. Let me tell you, actors need to keep a low profile and not appear in the media every day—that way, audiences maintain a sense of freshness when they see you on screen,” Guo Ziyi rattled on. “Otherwise, once everyone accepts your everyday persona, they’ll find the characters you play in movies fake!”

Yang Huan slapped Guo Ziyi’s shoulder carelessly, chuckled, and said, “Exactly! Take you, for example. Knowing how funny you usually are, both Ding Xiang and I found your portrayal of A’Guang completely fake. How could someone as talkative as you possibly play a silent, reserved type? If you weren’t allowed to talk, you would’ve suffocated!”

“Hehe!” Guo Ziyi only smiled without replying.

Ding Xiang was still dwelling on the earlier topic. She tugged at Yang Huan’s hand and said, “Huanhuan, if you pursue acting in the future, you must be careful. Don’t let anyone deceive you! For women, the consequences of being tricked are far more severe.”

Yang Huan formed her right hand into a claw shape, palm facing up, rotated it once, then tightly clenched it into a fist. She waved it proudly and said to Ding Xiang, “Sister Ding Xiang, don’t worry. I’m not afraid at all. Whoever dares to deceive me, I’ll punch them flat!”

“Come on, don’t be so naive. Society nowadays isn’t an era where fists can solve problems anymore! Besides, no matter how strong your fists are, if someone really wants to scheme against you, they can drug you and do whatever they want. It’s better to be cautious.” Guo Ziyi had heard a lot of such stories in the film base in Beijing. Although he couldn’t go into detail, he still frankly told Yang Huan.

Yang Huan froze. She was still inexperienced in the ways of the world and hadn’t realized things were so complicated.

Upon hearing this, Ding Xiang also looked at Yang Huan with concern and said, “Huanhuan, I think Xiao Guo is right. Don’t let your guard down.”

“But, Sister Huan, you don’t need to worry too much!” Guo Ziyi said with a smile. “Don’t you still have your brother and sister-in-law? Instead of signing with some unknown talent agency, why not sign directly with your brother and sister-in-law’s studio? With them looking out for you, you basically don’t need to worry about those dirty tricks.”

Yang Huan asked doubtfully, “My brother and sister-in-law’s studio? Isn’t that their own studio? Can they sign other people? And aren’t they specialized exclusively in singers?”

Guo Ziyi rolled his eyes and said, “A studio is essentially just a talent agency, only smaller. Who says personal studios can’t sign other stars? This happens all the time in the entertainment industry. However, typically only famous individuals’ studios attract others willing to join, and they don’t sign artists indiscriminately—they need to make profits too.”

“As for the issue of crossing over into another field, you don’t need to worry about that either. Right now, ‘Fairy Tale,’ this mini-movie, was released under the name of the studio.” Guo Ziyi said with a smile. “Although Sister Mo Fei focuses on a single area as an artist, Brother Yang is different. He doesn’t just write songs; he can also write scripts. Didn’t he just write another script for Director Du? I’m even thinking of waiting until Director Du finishes studying it and then seeing if I can land a role.”

While Yang Huan was deep in thought, Ding Xiang suddenly interjected. She said to Guo Ziyi, “Why don’t you consider signing your talent contract with Brother Yang’s studio? He certainly wouldn’t cheat you.”

That’s right! Guo Ziyi hadn’t thought about this before, and he fell into deep thought as well.

“Guo Ziyi, you rascal, it’s noon and you still don’t want to return to your dormitory. Don’t tell me you want to sneak into some girl’s rental house again?” At this moment, Yang Yi returned from planting flowers outside with Xixi and Mo Fei.